Seeing You
by Nadja Lee
Summary: Scott is going blind after a mission gone wrong. Can Rogue help him?


Seeing You                

By Nadja Lee           26/11/00

English is not my native language. Please forgive me my mistakes.

Disclaimer: "X-men" and all the characters here belong to Marvel, 20 Century Fox and I intend no infringement, this is a piece of amateur fan fiction, and I make no money of it.

Only the original idea contained within this work is the property of the author. Please do not copy this story to any website or archive without permission of the author.

Timeline: Set after the movie. 

Universe: Set in the movie universe. Only the movie NOT the book that goes with it! 

Pairing: Scott/Rogue

Summary: Scott is going blind after a mission goes sour. Can Rogue help him?

 Archiving: Want, ASK, take, have.

Feedback: Yes, please. My e-mail address is nadjalee2000@hotmail.com 

Rating: PG-13 

Dedicated to: Robin and all others who gave me feedback on my earlier Scott/Rogue stories!

Part 1:

Two years had passed since Rogue had first come to the Mansion and a lot had changed. Logan had

returned from his trip a month after he had left and had soon after left again, this time with Jean. Scott wished he could say it had surprised him but it hadn't. He had already felt he was losing Jean when Logan first came and after he had left she had been distant and he had known that even if Logan didn't come back it was only a matter of time before Jean left. After Jean had left he had been devastated but had found comfort with Rogue. She had been hurting too and together they had pulled through. Scott had come to care deeply for Rogue and the opposite was true as well. They talked well together and Scott felt that he knew her better than he had ever gotten to know Jean. Now that Rogue was 19 she had joined Storm and Cyclops on their missions. First Scott had been against it as he feared for her safety, but Rogue had been determined and he knew they could use all the help they could get. Kitty, Bobby, John, Jubilee and Peter were all going to join the team as well when they turned 18 within a few months.  

This time they were up against Magneto once again who had escaped from his prison. Xavier had found him with Cerebro and the X-men had arrived in a small city in Alaska (why couldn't bad guys go to Hawaii or something?) before he got his helmet back and now they were to take Magneto back to prison. It was easier said than done. Magneto had thrown Storm up against a tree and she was still out of it. Rogue and Cyclops were both still on their feet and stood protectively in front of the Weather Goddess despite of the fact that Magneto levitated everything he could get his hands on and threw it at them. 

It was winter and cold but the sun was shinning from a clear sky, but that didn't make it any easier. Magneto had now levitated a big smooth metal plate and was aiming it at Rogue. 

" Rogue, get away from there!" Scott screamed and pushed her out of the way and aimed his blasts at the plate. The sun glimmered in the metal and when he opened his eyes and fired at it, the sun's deadly light blinded him. He knew he had very sensitive eyes when it came to the sun and it was one of the reasons (besides a killer headache) that made he stayed out of direct sunlight. He still had open eyes and fired all the way through the plate and hit Magneto of guard who flew backwards and into a wall. He lost consciousness and Scott released the firing control on his visor. 

Small white stars were dancing before his eyes but he couldn't see anything. No shapes, no nothing. He was blind!

Part 2:  

" Scott, are you ok?" Rogue asked concerned and came to him as he just stood there, in the middle of the street where they had fought Magneto.

" I….I can't see," Scott answered shocked. Rogue lay her hand on his arm and her eyes narrowed in concern.

" Let me see. Open your eyes," she asked and gently stroked his cheek with her gloved hand.

" No. My optic blasts still work I…I just can't...see," Scott explained pained and tried uselessly to see her. She stood right in front of him, he could feel her warmth but he couldn't see her no matter how hard he tried.

" It'll pass," Rogue said sympathetically, and prayed she was right.

" I have flown Magneto into the jet," Storm said with a smug. She had paid Magneto back for the headache he had given her by giving him a not so gentle flight into the jet. She saw Rogue's concerned look and as she landed besides them, looked from Rogue to Scott.

" Are you okay, my friend?" Storm asked Scott concerned and looked intensely at him. She couldn't see anything wrong but he stood as if frozen. Scott didn't answer and Rogue gently guided him to the jet. 

" Let's go home," she said softly and Storm heard tears in her voice.

Part 3:

Ring, ring

The phone rang and Scott quickly stood up from the chair he had occupied and said;

" I'll get it," and left to find the phone in the hallway.

" Wait, shouldn't Ah…?" Rogue began but he was already gone. She heard him bump into several furniture and he uttered curses so colourful they could have made Logan blush.

" He is not taking this well, is he?" Rogue asked Storm sadly. 

To their horror Scott's eyesight hadn't returned and Hank, their new Doctor after Jean had left, had said that his retina was destroyed, burned from the sun. Scott would never be able to see again. What concerned Rogue the most, however, was the way Scott took the news, all calm and controlled. And now, three weeks after they had returned Magneto to prison, Scott still refused to admit his handicap. He walked around as he was used to which gave him countless bruises as he kept bumping into things. The students knew of his blindness and didn't know what to do or how to react. To prevent Scott from having to ask Kitty had asked all the students to say their name and then what they wanted to say as Scott couldn't see their raised hands when in class.

" No, my friend, he is not. We have all avoided talking to him about it but I think we need to," Ororo said pained. 

It was so unfair. Scott, who had dedicated his life to help the helpless was now in need of help himself and that was hard for him to accept and admit.

"Ah'll help him," Rogue said determined." No matter if he wants me to or not." 

Ororo smiled softly.

" You love him, don't you?" She asked Rogue gently and lay her hand over Rogue's gloved one. Rogue looked surprised at her for her insight but then nodded.

" Yeah," she admitted quietly.

Part 4:   

" Scott, may Ah sit?" Rogue asked, making sure she spoke before she reached him so he knew it was her. Scott sat in the garden and stared uselessly at the flowers in front of him that he only knew had to be there by their smell. He had always hated his red glasses and his lack of colour vision. Now he missed seeing the world that way again. He missed seeing the world, period!

" Sure," his voice held no emotions. She seated herself next to him and looked intensely at him. His hair had grown longer and was now shoulder-length and he hadn't shaved so stubble covered his chin. He looked older…more dangerous…more sexy.

" Scott, the professor gave you a cane. Why don't you use it?" Rogue asked softly and eyed his left hand which he had sprained when he again had bumped into something. It wasn't the first time Scott lived like a blind but it was the first time he didn't do so voluntarily because of fear of his own mutant powers. He now knew his room by the feel of it and could find his way around in it but the mansion was too big to get to know that way. 

" I don't need it," Scott said sharply.

" Scott, please. Ah don't want this to be true either but we have to be realistic. You are blind, lov, and nothing Ah say or do can change that do matter how much Ah want to," the latter was spoken so softly that hadn't Scott learned to heighten his other senses he wouldn't have heard her.

" You…care for….me?" Scott asked her surprised. " How can you? I'm no use to anybody. I'm …worthless," he added angrily.

" Ah love you, Scott. Ah'll always love you," she said and took his right hand in her gloved one. He tore his hand away as if burned.

" Don't say that. Don't pity me," he yelled angrily, but pain was in his voice.

He stood up and she did the same.

" God damn it, Scott! Ah'm NOT pitying you. Ah really do love you and you can still do things. You aren't worthless. Remember Matt Murdock? He's a lawyer and he's blind," she asked, getting angrily herself over his stubbornness.

"Yeah and he's also a superhero with radar sight!" Scott said sarcastically, remembering their meeting with Daredevil a few months earlier.

"Scott, please. Don't do this. Let me try and help." 

Scott was about to protest that he didn't need her help but she added; 

" Just till the Professor gets back for his campaign for mutant rights in Washington D.C. in six months. Please," she pleaded with him.

" Okay, okay. I'll do what you ask. But only for you," he finally agreed and she put her arms around him.

" Thanks, sugah." 

He smiled warmly at her.

"Anything for you, Rogue. Anything."

Part 5:      

Scott used his cane to walk quickly and safely down the hallway. He had known in his mind that Rogue was right from the beginning; he needed to use the cane.

But that would also mean admitting his handicap, his weakness, and he hadn't been ready for that. He had always feared the dark, going blind had been one of his worst nightmares so that hadn't made his new life any easier. For a month he had tried to push Rogue away, saying she deserved better but she had always returned to him, no matter how cruelly he had tried to push her away, until he finally had accepted her help but not her love. So, a month ago, she had moved in with him but he had still trouble understanding why such a beautiful young woman would want to live the rest of her life with him. But she did and she had always been there. When he had woken up in the middle of the night and cried out in fear when he couldn't escape the darkness, she was there. When he had hated everything and yelled at her, she had understood. When it all had become too much and he had broken down crying on his knees, she had comforted him. When he had destroyed his office with his eye beams in frustration over not being able to read his books again, never see anything again, she had been there. She had always been there. Through it all, good times and bad. When he had first used the cane, when he had joyously discovered that his other senses helped him identify people by smell and when people tried to silently approach him, he had learned to hear it.

" Scott, the professor is back," Rogue said happily to him and stood before him, letting him come to her.

" I know. He called me telepathically." 

His face fell in worried lines. "And how are you feeling?" 

A new telepathic student, Betsy, had been unaware of Rogue's mutation and had put a comforting hand on her bare shoulder when Rogue had been saddened by Scott's frustration over his handicap. Rogue had absorbed her powers but they had subsided now. Rogue had been afraid that Betsy would fear her now but she didn't. The young woman called it "an experience."

" Ah'm fine. Will you stop worrying?" Rogue asked with a smile and took his left hand in hers and let him guide her to the professor's office.

" I can't help it. I love you. I have for a long time," Scott admitted softly and Rogue suddenly stopped.

" What?" Scott asked worried. He couldn't hear anything unusual but still eased

Rogue behind him. 

"Where?" he growled, asking for the direction of an enemy he couldn't see and his left hand went to his glasses, ready to shoot the intruder.

" No, no. Everything is fine. It's just….you have never said you loved me before," Rogue explained softly.

" I haven't? Well, I do," Scott confirmed and drew her into his embrace.

"Oh, Scott," Rogue whispered and cried into his chest. All these long months and cold nights. All this time she had thought he only saw her as a friend and as his worst, hardly even that. 

"Are you crying, love? Please don't. I cannot stand to see…hear you cry," Scott said softly and held her a little away from him, as sighted people do when they want to see but Scott needed to hear.

" Ah'm sorry. Ah'm just so happy," Rogue smiled through the tears. 

Here she had been so afraid that he didn't love her. That he only needed her. It was such a relief to finally know.

" I'm happy too. I was a fool not to admit to my feelings. I …" without thinking Scott reached out and brushed a hand over her chin to direct her face towards him as he had heard that she had spoken in another direction than towards him.

" Nooo," Rogue cried horrified and quickly stepped away from him.

"Ahhhhh" Scott cried out in pain and fell to his knees.

" Oh, god. Scott," Rogue cried and knelled beside him. " Please, talk to me," she pleaded, tears running down her cheeks. Scott lifted his head and looked at her.

" I ….I can see," he said in wonder, surprise and joy.

" You…You're ok?" Rogue asked joyously and helped him to his feet.

" Yes and….I can see!" Scott answered happily and turned his head around to take it all in.

" What do you mean?" Rogue asked him concerned. Had her touch damaged his mind?

" I can see. In colours. Not really see but 'see' as in my mind, my head," Scott explained, his voice holding a world of joy.

" How can that be?" Rogue started to smile. 

He could see! Wishes really did come true.

" I don't know," Scott laughed and took her in his arms and spun her around. 

" What is it?" Rogue asked concerned as he sat her back down and his smile disappeared.

" I…I have lost it again. I …I'm blind again," he uttered softly, on the edge of tears. He had seen a Paradise of colours and light and then been thrown back down in the darkest Hell again. If someone would ever ask him what the worst torture was he'll answered this; to have seen the world only to lose it again. To have been granted ones most heart filled wish for a moment in time for then to have it violently torn away again. That was truly the worst kind of torture.

" Oh. What did you do to be able to see before?" Rogue asked, hoping to find a way to give him that happiness back that he had just felt.

" I don't know. I don't know," Scott yelled desperately. " Wait, I…I reached up and…" his jaw tightened and he reached a hand towards her face.

" No, don't," she quickly moved away from him but his hand still brushed against her cheek.

" I can s…..I have lost it again," Scott said frustrated.

" You touch me and you can see?" Rogue wondered out loud. "Why?"

" I don't really see. It's like I can see things in my mind, " Scott explained.

" We better ask the professor about this."

Part 6:

" So, you touch Rogue and instead of her gaining your powers, you gain your sight?" Xavier asked as they had explained it all to him.

" Yes…yes," Rogue said and first then did she realise that she could touch Scott. Truly touch him. She had been so concerned and happy for Scott that she hadn't given herself any thought before now. She could touch! Just the thought was enough to make her smile and feel light-headed with happiness.

" Do you know what is happening to us?" Scott asked worried and took Rogue's gloved hand in his, not daring to touch her bare skin again before he knew what was going on if his touch should somehow prove harmful to her.

" Rogue, you absorbed Betsy's psychic powers a few weeks ago, right?" Xavier asked, thinking out loud.

" Yes."

" You don't lose the powers you absorb, they just aren't consciously known to you. They are suppressed and only unconsciously known to you. I think you give Betsy's psychic powers to Scott when you touch, allowing him to see as well as any sighted person, maybe even better, through his mind's eye. It's an ability all psychics have. He'll probably also have Betsy's telepathic powers in other aspects as well like mind reading, mind control and sending telepathic messages to others."

" But…I lose my sight again," Scott said sadly.

" Yes, the longer you hold on to Rogue the longer you'll have your sight. I believe you can maximum hold your borrowed gift for as long as Rogue consciously had it; a few weeks," Xavier explained.

" How long can I do this? See things, I mean?" Scott asked, trying not to sound too eagerly.

" Well, since Rogue never loses any of the powers she absorbs; always."

" How come we can touch?" Rogue wanted to know.

" Sometimes mutants have different effects on each others powers. Scott, your power seems to somehow hold Rogue's in check while she gives you or you absorbs the borrowed gift you need in order to see. I don't know why. As I said, mutants react differently to each others powers."

Epilogue:

" We can touch. We can truly touch," Rogue said joyfully as they walked from the professor's office, still holding on to Scott's hand with her gloved one. 

"Come on," an idea hit her and she dragged Scott with her outside.

" Where are we going?" Scott asked amused. He doubted anything smaller than the end of the world would make him feel any sadness or pain on this day of joy and wonder.

" To see colours," she said simply and stopped in the colourful garden, filled with flowers of all sorts, compliments of Storm.

"Touch me," she whispered .

" Oh, Rogue…" Scott mumbled, tears coming to his eyes. She did all this for him. He owned her more than he could ever repay. More than words could describe. 

" I love you so," he bent down and claimed her lips with his, enjoying the sweet taste of her. As they drew apart, Rogue's cheeks were red and Scott looked at her with love in his eyes behind the red glasses. 

"Now, that's what I call beautiful," he whispered and stroked a white hair away from her face. Rogue's cheeks coloured an even deeper pink.

" You should see the flowers and all their colours," she said shyly.

" I can see the flowers later. Now, all I want to see is you," Scott said huskily and drew her into yet another kiss.

" Ah love you," Rogue whispered as Scott drew her down beside him on the soft green grass and started to cover her with kisses of love. Then all conscious thoughts disappeared in touch, sight and feel. For just a moment in time the world was at peace and filled with love and hope…and colours.

The end  


End file.
